Adjustable nonrestrictive nasal cannula



May 26, 1970 w. H. SMITH ADJUSTABLE NONRESTRICTIVE NASAL CANNULA FiledApril 30, 1968 INEA/Tof? WILLIAM H `SMITH 3y/MM A'United States Patent O3,513,844 ADJUSTABLE NONRESTRICTIVE NASAL CANNULA William H. Smith,Rahway, NJ., assignor to Metro Hospital Supply Co., Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.Filed Apr. 30, 1968, Ser. No. 725,364 Int. Cl. A61m 1 5 08 U.S. Cl.12S-206 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A nasal cannula made of aflexible material having a formable insert in the connecting cross-tubebetween the nostril conduits permitting manual shaping and contoun'ng ofthe cross-tube to the contour. of the upper lip of the patient. Theinsert, which may be a at piece of metal, may be provided withnon-restricting notches to prevent constriction of the gas ow.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention Hospital andout-patient equipment, particularly oxygen feeding tubes.

Description of the prior art The following U.S. patents are known toshow nasal cannulae of varying types:

1,125,542, Humphries, Jan. 19, 1915; 1,129,583, Miller, Feb. 23, 1915;1,599,111, Beadle, Sept. 7, 1926; 2,208,633, Heidbrink, July 23, 1940;2,499,650, Kaslow, Mar. 7, 1950; 2,663,297, Turnberg, Dec. 22, 1953;2,693,800, Caldwell, Nov. 9, 1954; 2,735,432, Hudson, Feb. 21, 1956;2,763,263, Ellman, Sept. 18, 1956; 2,868,199, Hudson, Jan. 13, 1959;2,931,358, Sheridan, Apr. 5, 1960.

Among the above patents only one bears directly upon the presentdisclosure, namely, Caldwell Pat. No. 2,693,800 which shows a wireinsert in and between the nostril conduits for adjusting the spacingtherebetween. As will be described presently, the present invention usesneither a wire nor any other adjusting means for regulating the distanceIbetween the nostril conduits.

Summary of the invention The present invention provides a nasal cannulawhich is both economical enough to be produced in great quantity andthereby be disposable (one patient use) while at the same time beingreadily and simply adaptable to the contour of the support upon whichthe cannula rests when in use. That support being the patents upper lip,it may be appreciated that great variations occur from patient topatient, not to mention variations of the facial contour of a givenpatient during times of varying physical condition.

Basically and not by way of limitation the present invention provides anasal cannula having a cross-tube connecting ibetween the nostrilconduits .and adapted to rest on and be supported by the upper lip ofthe patient. 'Ihe cross-tube is of a flexible material. Inserted withinthe cross-tube is a flat formable strip, perferably a metal having thecharacteristics of aluminum, which is manually formable to the contourof the patients upper lip. The strip retains its formed shape andimparts that shape to the cross-tube.

A notable feature of the present invention is the provision, wherenecessary, of non-restricting notches in opposite side edges to preventgas ilow constriction regardless of the position of the strip within thecross-tube or the shape assumed after manual forming.

; Brief description of the drawing FIG. l is a pictorial view of theadjustable non-restrictive nasal gannula of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial piew of the adjustable non-restrictive nasalcannula of FIG. 1 shown in use on John Q. Patient.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view taken across line 3 3 of FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken across line 4-4 of FIG. 3and showing in phantom a formed condition.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken across line 5 5 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a front view, partially in phantom, of the adjustablenon-restrictive nasal cannula of the present in` vention.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view taken across line 7-7 of FIG.6.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of an insert strip made in accordance with theteachings hereof.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of another insert strip in accordance with theteachings hereof.

Description of preferred embodiments of the invention Referring to thedrawing, the adjustable nonrestrictive cannula of the present inventioncomprises an inlet tube .10, a cross-tube 12 in flow communication withsaid inlet tube, a pair of nostril conduits extending from and in lowcommunication with said cross-tube and a headband 16 connecting betweenthe end of said cross-tube 12 opposite inlet tube 10 on the one hand andan adjustable buckle 18 which slides on inlet tube 10 on the other hand.Headband 16 may be joined to cross-tube 12 simply by passing it througha hole in cross-tube 12 provided for the purpose and knotting the end ofthe headband to prevent its withdrawal therefrom as shown in FIGS. 3 and4 or it may be tied to a connecting ange 20 integral with cross-tube 12provided for the purpose. 'In the event that a hole is placed in thecross-tube, care must be taken to provide a hermetic seal for obviouspurposes.

IA formable at insert strip 22 is placed within crosstube 12. Insertstrip 22, which may be made of aluminum or other material of likeformable properties, is free to rotate within cross-tube 12 but is atall times held in substantially axial alignment with the cross-tube.Insert strip 22 may easily be hand shaped as desired by bending itsmajor plane but is not easily formable in any other direction. Thus, incontrast to the wire of Caldwell Pat. No. 2,693,800, insert strip 22 maybe formed into a planar curve (having two dimensions only) and isresistant to being formed into a nonplanar curve (having threedimensions). Accordingly, if insert strip 22 is rotated so as to beco-planar with the plane of nostril conduits 14, as shown in FIG. 5,then forming will result in the curvature shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 7 and inphantom in FIG. 4. In this coniguration, it may be noted that thesubstantially parallel relationship of the nostril tubes is not alteredalthough their inherent flexibility permits adaptation to the upper lipcontour as shown on the fictitious Mr. Patient of FIG. 2.

In forming, it is unlikely that insert strip 22 will restrict theinternal flow of oxygen or other gases. Nevertheless, the possibilitycannot be discounted as such a restriction may have a less thandesirable eifect on Mr. Patient. Accordingly, insert strip 22 may beprovided with notches 30 in its side edges 32. Normally, notches 30 areprovided in pairs, one notch 30 in each side edges 32 and, as shown inFIG. 6, there may be two such pairs of notches 30 each in alignment witha nostril conduit 14.

For comfort, a pad 34 may be provided across tube 12.

While the foregoing is illustrative of preferred embodi- 3 ments of theinvention it is clear that other embodiments and modifications may behad within the teachings of the disclosure and the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An adjustable non-restrictive nasal cannula, comprising:

(a) an inlet tube;

(b) a cross-tube in ow communication with said inlet tube; i

r(c) a pair of upstanding nostril conduits in flow communicationl withsaid cross-tube;

(d) a formable insert strip in said cross-tube for manual shaping andshape retention in correspondence with the shape of the users upper lip;and

(e) an adjustable headband for securing the cannula.

to the patient,

(f) said insert strip being provided with notches in its opposite sideedges.

2. An adjustable non-restrictive nasal cannula, comprising:

(a) an inlet tube;

(b) a cross-tube in ow communication with said inlet tube;

(c) a pair of upstanding nostril conduits in ow communication with saidcross-tube;

(d) a formable insert strip in said cross-tube for manual shaping andshape retention in correspondence with the shape of the users upper lip;and

(e\) an adjustable headband for securing the cannula to the patient;

(f) said insert strip being provided with two pairs of notches in itsside edges, each pair being in alignment with one of said nostrilconduits.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,371,965 3/195'4 Lehmberg 12S-146.4 2,693,800 11/1954 `Caldwell 128-206 RICHARD A. GAUDET, yPrimary:Examiner G. F. DUN'NE, Assistant Examiner

